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National black pro-charter, pro-voucher group meets in New Orleans

Lion King Puppeteers and Actor Visit Bethune Elementary

Students at Mary Bethune Elementary in New Orleans. The school will be toured Friday by participants in the annual symposium of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, a pro-vouchers and -charter group.
(Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-Picayune)

Highlights of the symposium, which continues through Saturday, include an address by Steve Perry, founder of Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Conn.; a screening of the documentary "TEACHED" followed by a spoken-word open microphone session; and a question-and-answer session with alliance founder Howard Fuller, education professor at Marquette University.

The symposium includes several sessions focusing on Louisiana issues. There's a panel on New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina with former Loyola University professor Andre Perry, Recovery School Superintendent Patrick Dobard, Orleans Parish School Board President Nolan Marshall Jr., Sophie B. Wright Principal Sharon Clark and Neerav Kingsland, chief executive of New Schools for New Orleans.

Principal Vanessa Chavis of St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic School and two parents will talk about their experiences with vouchers in the Louisiana Scholarship Program. Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration awaits a federal court ruling on how the U.S. Justice Department may monitor voucher enrollment.

Some symposium attendees will tour four New Orleans schools that the alliance considers "high-quality": Landry-Walker High, Mary Bethune Elementary, St. Augustine High and St. Mary's Academy. More than 450 of St. Mary's students use vouchers; St. Aug's junior high joined the voucher program this year.